W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 2001 The Press and the Prisons: Union and Confederate Newspaper Coverage of Civil War Prisons Elizabeth C. Bangert College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Criminology Commons, Journalism Studies Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Bangert, Elizabeth C., "The Press and the Prisons: Union and Confederate Newspaper Coverage of Civil War Prisons" (2001). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539626316. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-9maw-v382 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE PRESS AND THE PRISONS: UNION AND CONFEDERATE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF CIVIL WAR PRISONS 1861-1865 A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Elizabeth C. Bangert 2001 ProQuest Number: 10630096 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest, ProQuest 10630096 Published by ProQuest LLC (2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition© ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 - 1346 APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Author Approved, December 2001 Scott R. Nelson Cindy Hahamovitch Lauri S. Koloski TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv ABSTRACT v INTRODUCTION 2 CHAPTER I. PREPARATION FOR PRISONERS OF WAR 10 CHAPTER II. THE UNION PRESS AND THE PRISONS 38 CHAPTER III. THE CONFEDERATE PRESS AND THE PRISONS 110 CHAPTER IV. CONCLUSION 161 BIBLIOGRAPHY iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The writer wishes to express her appreciation to Professor Scott Nelson, under whose guidance this thesis was researched and completed. Professor Nelson provided thoughtful advice and wisdom throughout this entire process. The author of this thesis would also like to thank Professor Cindy Hahamovitch for her patience, wisdom, and help with this project. In addition, Professor Lauri Koloski needs to be thanked for her careful reading and thoughtful criticisms. This thesis would only be an idea without the help of these three people. Thank you all again for making this thesis a reality. Finally, the writer needs to thank all of her family members for their support and understanding throughout this entire process. The writer would especially like to thank Michael Pennington for his thoughtful opinions and humor. His love and understanding has been a source of inspiration and comfort for a sometimes troubled and anxious soul Also, thanks to Carole Kehl and Elizabeth Baldwin. The messages of encouragement and moments of laughter have kept me going and have always made me feel loved. In addition, the author needs to thank Mark Ewing for his endless optimism and support. Mark, thank you for making graduate school possible. Finally, last but never least, thank you to my mother, Elizabeth Ewing. I am alive because of her and she is the reason for my success. Thanks for believing in me mom. I love you. ABSTRACT This thesis explores press coverage of the prisoner of war crisis during the American Civil War. Broken exchange cartels, lack of time and money, issues of pride and power, as well as overpopulation resulted in overcrowded prisons filled with sick, dying, and emaciated men on both sides of the struggle. Historian William B. Hesseltine argued that Northern newspapers overstated the privation of prisoners of war, provoking a “war psychosis.” This thesis explores the interaction between the press and events on both sides of the conflict, by examining articles and editorials in the Union and Confederate press. Specifically, this thesis uses six newspapers, including the New York Times, the New York Tribune, the New York Herald, the Richmond Examiner, the Richmond Enquirer, and the Richmond Dispatch. Located in New York and Richmond, these papers had wide access to information, enjoyed large circulation, and commanded attention from politicians and ordinary citizens alike. The Civil War was the first major American battle that was heavily covered by the American press. War coverage included investigation of and commentary on the prison situation. The press’ opinions, positive and negative, factual and exaggerated, had a significant impact on how Americans viewed the prison systems, the officials who ran them, and the prisoners themselves. The press used the representation of prisoners as a major focus for civilian mobilization, loyalty, enthusiasm, and sometimes outrage. v THE PRESS AND THE PRISONS: UNION AND CONFEDERATE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF CIVIL WAR PRISONS 1861-1865 INTRODUCTION Of all the conduct that has forever stained and sullied the vesture of Southern chivalry—that has even stripped it of its false garb of honor, and compelled it to stand plainly and undisguisedly in all its infamous blackness before the people of the North—none has been more perfectly characteristic of Southern baseness and inhumanity, than the general treatment of those of our unfortunate soldiers who have fallen into rebel hands as prisoners of war. -New York Times, October 2, 1864 The suffering to which our brave men have been subjected to by the Yankee demons is enough to melt the heart to tears.. .It was hoped by our men that they would soon be out of the clutches of the demons who have lorded it over them with a tyranny and cruelty worse than that of the dark ages. -Richmond Examiner, April 14, 1863 These quotes are excerpts from two articles featured in two mid-nineteenth century newspapers. Similar quotes can be found in thousands of editorials and articles in the print media of the Civil War. While these two newspaper writers stood in opposition to one another in terms of the national conflict, these two writers did share something in common. Both expressed similar feelings on an emotional issue: the suffering of Union and Confederate prisoners during the Civil War. The prisoners of war issue became a major focus of concern for both the Union and Confederacy during this national conflict. According to Civil War historian William B. Hesseltine, “No controversy ever evoked such emotions as the mutual recriminations between the Northern and Southern partisans over the treatment of prisoners of war.”1 A cursory examination of the numbers of prisoner narratives found hi most college libraries reveals the truth of Hesseltine’s statement. 2 1 William B. Hesseltine, “Civil War Prisons- Introduction,” Civil War History, Volume 8, Number 2 (June, 1962), 117. 3 One can usually find at least five to ten Civil War prisoner accounts on the shelves. Historians estimate that at least five hundred ex-prisoners of war published books, speeches, articles, pamphlets, and songs about their experiences in Northern and Southern prison camps. Northerners and Southerners, common soldiers and high- ranking officers, educated and uneducated, rich and poor, all wanted to record their prison experience^ for history as well as for fame and monetary gain. Many of these memoirs reveal the bitterness of imprisonment and sadness over the enormous loss of life. The Union and Confederate press exacerbated the situation, screaming out for retribution and revenge. The reasons behind the prisoners’ bitterness and the press’ outrage stem from the complexity of the prison situation during the Civil War. Clearly, being a prisoner during any war is never enjoyable. Though the laws of civilized warfare require that a surrendering enemy soldier should be given quarter and treated well, prisoners rarely enjoy their stays in enemy territory. For the Civil War prisoner, however, incarceration was'not only uncomfortable but also sometimes deadly. During the war over 55,000 or approximately thirty percent of the 400,000 Union and Confederate i O soldiers taken, died. These high death rates can be attributed to a variety of factors including a lack of quality rations, clean facilities, proper medication, and a lack of space. Both Union and Confederate prisons suffered from such deficiencies. Nevertheless, many ex-prisoners attributed the high death rates at a number of Union and Confederate prisons to something more than just a lack of good food. Many prisoners on both sides accused their captors of deliberate mistreatment. 2 Douglas Gibson Gardner, “Andersonville and American Memory: Civil War Prisoners and Narratives of Suffering and Redemption,” (Ph.D. diss., Miami University, 1998), 70. 4 Returning prisonrs went to the newspapers, complaining that they barely survived frequent beatings and the lack of food in overcrowded dirty prisons. Prison wardens supposedly withheld food sent to save prisoners and failed to provide medical care. Their stories must have been quite convincing, considering the numerous newspaper articles and memoirs published.4 Many people were convinced that prisoners were deliberately mistreated simply by the emaciated appearance of returning prisoners, especially towards the end of the war. Some prisoners never came home, dying in prison. Shocked by this suffering, both Northern and Southern families cried out for retribution. Many families used the press to express their pain and anger.5 The pain and anger surrounding the prisoner issue did not end with the war’s conclusion.